Over the Fall 2022 semester, I wrote Subsidies for Direct Air Capture: Lessons From the Solar Industry. In the paper, I use solar – one of the few climate technologies with a history of subsidies – as a case study to project whether the subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have set Direct Air Capture (DAC) up for success. To do so, I researched the history of federal U.S. solar subsidies, drew lessons from that history, and then applied those lessons to the measures in the IRA supporting DAC.
1. Solar and its Subsidy History in Brief
There is something about craning your neck upwards and staring at the heavens that really makes you understand the scale of the climate transition. As we stood at the base of a wind turbine at Altamount Pass, we had to do exactly that to take in these massive structures.
Food production accounts for around 26% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. From land use to livestock, how we produce, supply, and consume food is a significant contributor to climate change. On April 7th, students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and companies, came together to address how to limit those emissions at The AgTech & FoodTech against Climate Change conference, organized by the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC). Participants discussed innovative solutions to the impacts of food and agriculture on climate change.
On March 8th and 9th, the 2023 BERC Energy Summit was hosted in Spieker Forum at Haas. The much-anticipated event brought together 400 industry leaders, scientists, policymakers and students, to learn, network, and exchange ideas about the energy transition. The Summit was the 16th annual conference of the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative, one of the largest student-run conferences nationwide.
Welcome to a delayed but still relevant recap of Climate Change 101! As we get the blog active after a long Covid hiatus we are ironing out some logistics, but we are excited to be sharing event highlights and interesting energy and resource updates again!
We are excited to highlight a new series of posts that will be shared on both the Berkeley Science Review (BSR) and Berkeley Energy and Resource Collaborative (BERC) platforms. These articles will showcase UC Berkeley’s innovation in energy and resource sustainability, feature faculty and research profiles from many different departments, and keep readers up to date on relevant BERC events!
When I learned of the hiring of Patti Poppe as CEO of PG&E, my thoughts went to the impressive number of women leading major utilities throughout the country. I wondered why the utility industry, rather than tech or healthcare, seems to have such a tremendous record of success for female executives. And with the annual BERC Women in Energy event fast approaching (it’s on Thursday 12/10 at 6pm PT!), I figured now is the time to educate myself.
Among the numerous changes to society caused by COVID-19, an experiment is playing out in city streets and sidewalks across America. Following lockdowns, as cities began exploring how to reopen businesses safely, a sudden need for policies and procedures to expedite access to outdoor spaces emerged.
As battery prices continue to fall and the penetration of variable wind and solar generation rises, power plant developers are increasingly combining wind and solar projects with on-site batteries, creating “hybrid” power plants. I had the opportunity to lead a research effort up at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab which outlines the drivers of the new trend while discussing options for integrating the new technologies onto the grid.
A solar panels are warranted to perform their best for 25 years. So because the first major wave of solar panel installation was around 2010, the United States has about 15 years before solar panel recycling becomes a major issue. However, a surge in PV panel waste is coming and it pays to prepare. By 2050, there will be ten-million tons of PV waste volume in North America
Luckily, much of the materials in silicon and thin-film panels can be recycled,
Each year BERC hosts our flagship fall event, Resource Symposium, a half-day event that brings together professionals, policymakers, and academics on critical resource-related topics.
Spring Break is a great time to relax, spend time with family, or travel. For me, Spring Break was the perfect opportunity to attend the ICEPAG 2019 Microgrid Global Summit. The International Colloquium on Environmentally Preferred Advanced Power Generation (ICEPAG) is an annual clean energy conference presented by the Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) at UC Irvine. With a focus on microgrids, ICEPAG invites professionals in both academia and industry to share their cutting-edge developments.
Marcus Lehmann
Current position: Co-founder & CEO, CalWave Power Technologies Inc.
Cal Affiliation: Visiting Research Student, Mechanical Engineering (2012-2016)
BERC continues to take the world by storm, racking up double wins at UCLA's Energy Case Challenges Competition last month!
Check out the Haas blog link for more information and congratulations to Sid Mullick, Cici Saekow, Mark Sheiness, Kylie Sale, William Lynn (from Edison International/Southern California Edison), Bree Soares, Kate Tomlinson, Joyce Yao, Deborah Tan, and Nick Matcheck, all Haas MBA 20.
Thank you to everyone who attended the 13th annual BERC Energy Summit! We had a great time welcoming all of you and learning more about the exciting work being done around energy and resources in the Cal community and beyond. A big thanks to all our sponsors and speakers who made this Summit the best yet.
